Exciting NEW Enhancements to your Health and Welfare Plan

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

As Chairman of the Health and Welfare committee I am always looking for ways to responsibly increase your benefits by putting (or keeping) more money in your pockets. With the help of the entire H & W committee we are able to announce the following new benefits and enhancements: ALL TAKE EFFECT JULY 1, 2015:

We upgraded our Helthplex dental plan from the Metro to the Capital program. This has increased the number of "In Network" providers from approximately 192 Dentists in Nassau and Suffolk to approximately 442. We found that 52% of our members went to "out of network" dentists and were experiencing substantial out of pocket expenses. With over 200 new dentists in our (Nassau-Suffolk) network there is a good chance that your "out of network" dentist has moved to the "In Network" panel which could save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars in outlays. Once the new plan is in effect (July 1, 2015) we will post the plan provider book on our website and you can see if your dentist is on the plan. As always we recommend that you call the dentist first to verify coverage as providers come in and out of the plan on a regular basis. For those of you looking south the "In Network" providers in Florida will increase from 13 up to 257!

We now will cover spouses of members for orthodonture work.

Death benefit for a active members to be increased from $10,000 to $20,000.

New death benefit for retirees is $3,000.

And, to increase the number of members covered and to make medical reimbursements easier to apply for YOU MAY NOW USE YOUR EMPIRE INSURANCE PAYMENTS to qualify for the $200 maximum reimbursement. Simply provide a copy of your paystub that shows over $200 (YTD) from the previous year (during during the application period, January 1st - April 15th, and you qualify for full reimbursement!

GVS will be rolling out its new website where you can confirm eligibility, make an appointment and even browse on line the "guaranteed IN-STORE minimum of 200+ frames that are fully covered under the plan - right from your computer or smart phone.

Brand new AccuHealth Health and Wellness program: Under the auspices of St. Francis Hospital we will be introducing our new program which is available to all members and spouses REGARDLESS OF THEIR AGE (and dependants over the age of 18) that specializes in the prevention, early detection and treatment of diseases when they are more easily treatable. THIS NEW BENEFIT IS PROVIDED AT NO OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE - NOT EVEN A CO-PAY! Testing includes a biometric screening, a wide array of non-invasive ultrasound tests and a disease management protocol if needed. The results obtained with this program are evaluated by board certified specialists. Normally this clinical process would require multiple office visits to various specialists costing the patient valuable time as well as multiple co-payments. If further disease management is required members will have access to the medical director and board certified cardiologist at St. Francis Hospital, ranked one of the top ten hospital by U.S. News and World Report. Testing sites will be throughout Nassau and Suffolk and through the AccuHealth mobile van. Tests include: Biometric Screening, EKG, Echocardiogram, Carotid Duplex, Pulmonary Function Test, Abdominal Aorta sonogram, lower arterial duplex ultrasound and upper extremity arterial ultrasound. More information to come.